Candytopia In Los Angeles Is Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, IRL

Thursday, December 14

Happy Thursday. Today had me in a complete rut. Lots of things happening in my life (personal and work) that I’m just having a hard time accepting. Shout out to DJ Hed for setting me straight.

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Fast forward to the evening, tonight was the pre-opening party of Candytopia. Where do I even begin? Honestly, this was the only thing I had to look forward to all d̶a̶y̶ week. Candytopia is exactly how it sounds: “where colossal candyfloss constructions meld with a tantalizing taffy twistedness!” Imagine Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, IRL. Museum of Ice Cream, The Happy Place, 29 Rooms… this is a hybrid of all of that. Without ANY bias, this trumps them all. Candytopia is my heaven. If you know me, you know how much I love candy. In fact, I choose sweets over real food any day. I still haven’t had a sip of alcohol since August 2012, but for some reason, my sugar addiction comes in strong every single day.

A post shared by Candytopia (@thecandytopia) on Dec 7, 2017 at 1:22pm PST

People ask me how I do so much, I feel like candy helps lmao. Huge thanks to Nadi for the invite and helping put this entire thing together. He’s honestly too dope for this. They KILLED IT. Side note, for some reason, tonight proved to be the one night in December that EVERY event fell on. There were SO many things going on, but if there’s one thing I learned from tonight: Candytopia should be at the top of everyone’s priorities. I feel like this is the exact reason I have my #FOMOblog. Aside from dope concerts and exclusive music industry events, things like Candytopia NEED to be seen and enjoyed by the people. I’m 27 years old, and this was a playground for me. I could only imagine it for a child. With that being said, this is the perfect outing for any occasion: date night, family night, movie night, CANDY night… this is one for the books.

A post shared by Candytopia (@thecandytopia) on Dec 7, 2017 at 9:57am PST

Even pulling up to LA Hangar Studios at 7pm on the dot proved to be late. There was a long line of people that stemmed from the entrance of the building and wrapped all the way around into the parking lot. Candytopia is located in Boyle Heights, which is near downtown LA (I think). Honestly, it was in the cuts, which made it that much more special and enticing. I thought I was going to have to hustle to find parking, but they spoiled us with free valet. Again, so grateful. The description reads, “If you ever dreamed of nibbling your way through Candyland or scoring a Golden Ticket, you’ve come to the right place. Treat yourself to Candytopia, and let your tastebuds and your imagination soar!” Tickets are only $30 and they open on December 15. Perfect for ALL ages.

Thanks again to Nadi, I was able to bring my babygirl Diana. We were one of the first ones inside and doors weren’t even open yet. The waiting area pre-Candytopia had so many photo opps already. There was a glorious red carpet paired with the most vibrant backdrop, and a wall full of candy quotes from the most famous people. There were platters of fancy hors d’oeuvres going around and they even handed out boxed wine! Talk about a party. They were so excited for us to be here, and the feeling was so mutual. We all waited patiently as we look ahead onto the vintage “Candytopia” letters above the brass double doors. It legit felt like we were about to enter Willa Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Without further ado, let’s go inside.

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The first room was a full-on library, with nothing but books surrounding our every gaze. We were met by an extremely bubbly tour guide, who was not only in costume, but 100% in character. She gave us all the information we needed and highly encouraged photos. To the left hung a painting of the most beautiful woman, who we find out is mastermind behind it all. Introducing Jackie Sorkin, who was able to bring her vision for Candytopia to life. One visit to the website and a video pops up of her describing this magical land filled with “flying unicorn pigs, rock candy castle, marshmallow tsunami.” SOLD. There are over a dozen rooms filled with interactive pieces made entirely of candy. Each one was a treat in its own way.

The beach room had a real-life lifeguard posted up high, watching over everyone. We were handed a stick of fluffy, pink cotton candy before we played. I LOVE COTTON CANDY. I was so giddy already. It was honestly so much fun just being immersed in this alternate reality (real life sucks). Stealing Diana’s flick (scroll to the 3rd and 4th) — she killed the pose with the shark lmao. I tried to reenact it and failed. And PSA, they highly encouraged us to post and make all our IG followers jealous, although not everything has to be for the Gram. I mean, I can sit here all day and trash Instagram, and then go and post 5 minutes later. Unfortunately, this is just the world we live in now. Besides the dope pictures, everyone genuinely had a good time and enjoyed each other’s company.

Okay, rant over. Sorry, just had to get it out of my system lmao. Definitely want you guys to go see and experience this for yourselves, so here’s just some of our highlights. Don’t want to give it all away! Entering this all-white dome, we watched a few people swing life away with nothing but pure joy in their faces. We were next lmao. I honestly love swings. Btw, if you don’t have anyone to come with. COME ALONE! There are so many staff/workers at any even given area, born ready to take photos and socialize. It made the entire visit so warm and welcoming. There’s also a really dope photo booth in this room, that takes a boomerang from way up high. Drone status. Technology forever passing us by.

This is probably the best photo opp of them all. If you’re not a fan of this emoji, we probably have nothing in common lmao. Although it really should say YG’s 4 Hunnid. I usually just put 4 of these emojis. If you know, you know.

This lead us straight into the epic marshmallow pit. It’s like your average ball pit in a McDonald’s playground — remember those? How unsanitary were we as kids?! This felt clean lmao. Plus it’s white, so it has to be. This video had us crying lmao I literally lost my balance before the cue to jump. It’s also physically tiring lmao. Climbing in and out was no joke. Oh yeah, and wear cute socks! No shoes allowed.

I realized I’ve called several parts my favorite part, but this REALLY is my favorite part: the candy lounge. All your favorite sweets in one place, at your discretion. Literally everything you can think of. And you can hang out here as long as you want. There was a moment where I realize I’m probably going to get diabetes, but YOLO. Live your best life. You deserve this! There’s also an amazing gift shop here, so you can get souvenirs for all those who aren’t able to visit. I promise you, this is a must-see. You won’t regret it. They say the average visit to get through everything is an hour, but I recommend being in no rush.

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Fortunately, I was able to make it to Lock & Key for a very special celebration. On behalf of Hennessy and Diamond Lane Music Group, this was a privilege toast for Problem. Not only was this celebrating the success of Problem’s debut album, Selfish, which reached over 3 million streams within the first month, this was honoring his co-producer Grammy nominations for Rapsody’s “Sassy,” up for this year’s Rap Single Of The Year AND Rap Album Of The Year. Salute.

I enter the very hipster bar in K-Town to find everyone out on the back patio, which I didn’t know existed lmao. I’ve honestly only been here like once. I came right in time for Problem’s toast. Well, second toast. Shout out to Katrina in making sure everyone was solid. There was nothing but love and good energy in the air. Problem deserves this 100%. And shout out to Melissa for being one of the hardest working females in the industry. Period.